I think MS is waiting for the 65nm systems to come to market for the price drop, which should start as a free bundle of Halo3 for a couple of weeks, and then the full price drop - or at least that would be my strategy.

Why the heck would you give away for free one of your absolute best titles? It makes no sense financially, which is why it'll never happen.

I stick my vote about a price drop into the hat that says early next year. Well past the Halo launch date, past the GTA4 launch date, and past Christmas.

I can think of one company that's giving away one its best titles as a freebie, and they seem to be doing pretty well right now.

I'd say it is playable at this point. Is there a list of what those last few 'features' are?

According to the forums there, they've had a playable version for awhile now. I don't think they ever released a complete "to-do" list of what still needs work, just the features they planned to add in general.

I have an unopened copy of KOTOR II on the shelf just waiting for this to be released.

Also, didn't Circuit City sell Episode 1 for something like $8 during the initial week of release? This way, Valve gets all current owners of HL2 to upgrade via Steam and EA gets to put out a more expensive product.

In the end, who cares? You know gogamer.com is going to have this thing for $27 within one month of release anyway.

After tooling around with this for 30 minutes, I'm definitely waiting for a more comprehensive, and hopefully visual, translation guide. I couldn't build any new decks without errors, and the copious menus are all in Japanese. Back to Zelda: TP for me.

Finally, after four months this game is finished. I clocked in at about 67 hours and all my party members were at level 47. The final battles were a breeze, as I didn't even have to switch party members or fire off any quickenings. The ending was great, and I'm really looking forward to Revenant Wings on the DS.

Grats dude!! Surprised and impressed it was that easy for you at 47-it wasn't really hard for me at 53, but it wasn't that easy-and I used quickenings several times.

I was surprised as well, as I didn't even have any of the ultimate weapons, just stuff from the shops. I only used 4 ethers, 2 hi-ethers, and 1 phoenix down during the entire fight. Bubble belts, and gambits with protectaga, shellaga, haste, and bravery seemed to be a deadly combo.

Finally, after four months this game is finished. I clocked in at about 67 hours and all my party members were at level 47. The final battles were a breeze, as I didn't even have to switch party members or fire off any quickenings. The ending was great, and I'm really looking forward to Revenant Wings on the DS.

Anyone else notice the decline in gaming space at Best Buy? Specifically, it seemed like they had maybe the smallest PC game section I have ever seen in ANY store. Basically just the most recently released games.

I think the retail model for PC games, and potentially for Videogames is about dead or something.

Best Buy has been redesigning all their stores to have a more "attractive" floor plan, but at the cost of shelf space. It's not just games, but DVDs and music too. I couldn't even find some new DVD releases last week because my Best Buy simply didn't stock them.

As others have already stated, the vast majority of these games have not been actively stocked for at least six months. Some I've never even seen at a Best Buy. Also, my Best Buy doesn't have a Gamecube section anymore.

I've been collecting comics since 1987 and have recently switched to buying my comics online. I'm able to get most comics for under $2 and some for 75 cents. I probably spend around 50-70 dollars a month on comics and trade paperbacks. However, I think for someone just getting into comics the trades are a far better deal than single issues.

I think this is a great time for comics as there are more new comics I would like to read than I am able to buy.

After using itrackr.com for 4 weeks, I find it's a waste of time. They simply don't update the inventory quick enough to allow you to get to the store.

Your best bet is to watch the Sunday sales ads (cheapassgamer.com has them weeks in advance) and find when the next big restock is coming. On Sunday, get to the store four hours ahead of time and wait.

Luckily, the people I was in line with acted like adults the entire time and maintained an orderly line.

Wow, that sucks. The Best Buy in my area just relocated this past Friday, so I was a little afraid to get in line at the new location and then hear that they didn't receive any. I didn't have any problems with my line either.

I went to Circuit City at 6AM and waited for 3 hours in 20 degree weather. I was 3rd in line for 12 Wiis. The manager actually let us inside to wait after we received our vouchers. I got Trauma Center and the classic controller. I bought Zelda, an extra remote with nunchuck, Zelda: TP, and the component cables in December.

I'm starting to doubt the utility of itrackr.com. One Gamestop last night was changed to "in stock" status. The store received the shipment yesterday and sold out within 20 minutes. Since Ebgames/Gamestop comprises >75% of store listings I think this has been a waste of money. They need to expand to other stores.

And my EB/Gamestop/whatever has had some serious UPS issues as of late (and they're blaming UPS). Games just aren't coming in the day/time they're expecting them to anymore. Anybody have any guesses as to why?

I also preordered from ebgames and won't be getting my copy until Friday. They used to deliver one day after release.

I'm not very concerned. The Wii is obviously going to need calibration for different size televisions and viewing distances. There's a huge difference between a 13" and a 60" widescreen, and the sensitivity will have to adjusted accordingly. It looks great so far.

Yes, Red Steel doesn't have free form swordplay, but what game does? Die by the Sword is the only one I can think of, and that was ten years ago. Anyway, that's more of a problem with the game than the mechanics of the console.